The history of our armed forces is a subject close to my heart. Forget the politics, I just appreciate the sacrifice that ordinary people have made over the years. Last week, I was shooting background plates for a new website project for The Yorkshire Air Museum’s new site, going live in April. In the edit, this shot leapt out at me. Not because it’s technically perfect, far from it. In fact it was just a fire-from-the-hip shot and I’ll re-shoot it again later.
But it brought home to me the loneliness of the rear air gunner position in a World War Two bomber. Add in the shuddering statistic of a life expectancy of around two weeks and it made the hairs on my neck rise….
The Lonely Man…
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My granddad was shot in and lost the use of his arm as a rear gunner.
Apparently he had nearly finished his training as a fighter pilot when he volunteered for what was known as the most dangerous job in the sky.
That photo makes it look bloody terrifying!
Thanks, Andy. I’m glad it stirred emotions in you. It must have been a terrifying place to be